Alexis got home after practice, and ran straight to the kitchen. Her stomach was grumbling and felt hollow, and she was getting lightheaded.
"Hey Sweets, I made you some fish and steamed veggies…And I stuck a strawberry yogurt in the freezer for desert." Alexis spun around with the bottle of diet soda and a cup in her hand.
"Oh, thanks mom! I'm so hungry. Payson made me run double today. Did you speak to Riley? How's the race going?"
Alexis took a plate out of the closet and took a piece of fish, and piled it with the soft carrots, zucchini, snow peas, peppers and onion, and took the yogurt out to defrost while she ate the fish.
"Well, of course Riley won both the races, Mara placed second in the road race and third in the time trial, and Nicole placed third in the road race and second in the time trial. Seth told me that Riley seemed in good spirits today, so at least that's good."
Jennifer Dawes watched her tiny daughter devour the fish as if she hadn't seen food in her life, and chuckled. It was good to see that she was eating normally again after a month of eating nothing but egg whites and ice chips. But when she spoke of Riley she rubbed her temples—her current headache. She knew Seth was the coach—and a good one too—but Riley was constantly exhausted and low spirited, and Jennifer couldn't see her daughter return from training sessions every day looking that way. She knew her daughter deserved more, but she promised herself she wouldn't become a stage mother after what her mom had done to her. Jennifer adored and was humbled by Alexis and Riley, and she was proud of their achievements, but she only got involved with "coach stuff" when she thought there was something wrong.
"OK mom, I'll see you in a few weeks! I'm sorry we didn't have a formal goodbye and stuff, but staying here just makes so much more sense." Riley zipped up the last bag and spoke to her mom with the phone balancing in between her shoulder and her ear.
"Oh Little- 'Ley, I'm going to miss you so much! Don't worry though, kick some Italian butt, keep focused, but mostly have fun. And don't forget to call me every evening OK? Because I know Seth's too busy to do that." Jennifer stuck a few more yogurts in the freezer for Alexis, and packaged the leftover fish and veggies. She let out a sigh when she spotted the pile of dirty clothes that Alexis left on the steps. Just because she was an elite athlete did not mean she didn't leave a mess for her mother to clean up.
"Ok mom, no problem. How's Alexis doing? I spoke to Payson before and she said she's going to let her compete in the Pacific Rim, because she's improved so much." Riley put her electrolyte drink mix and energy gels in a Tupperware box and shoved them in one of the bags. She scanned the room one more time to make sure she didn't forget anything, and then hopped into bed next to Jessica—Mara preferred the single bed, and Riley didn't care, as long as she had a bed.
"Oh, yeah! You should have seen her today! She ate fish and steamed vegetables and even ate a yogurt for desert. I haven't seen her eat like that for the longest time. She seems great. OK Little-'Ley, I need to get going, It's late and I still need to finish up this paper."
"Ok Mom, that's great. I love you."
"I love you Little-'Ley."
Alexis crawled out of bed and quickly pulled on her bathrobe and slippers. It was Sunday, so she wasn't supposed to be going to the gym, but she was awake because a race Riley was participating in was going to be aired on live television. She slid down Seth's ramp like always and jumped onto the couch, where she curled up into a ball and turned the TV on low.
"And Welcome back to the Magglio Rosa race in Italy. The 'student girls' category is getting ready to start their race, just giving a little respect to the Italian National champion on the starting line, and then the girls will head off."
Alexis spotted the 4 girls in the crowd of girls, in their red-white and blue kits it was pretty hard to miss.
"And one more surprise for the 5th race in the 10 race series, Riley Dawes, Mara Franklin, Nicole Grace and Jessica Laurel have flown in from the United States to compete. These girls are the top cyclists of their age in America, but are they good enough to compete against Europe's finest? We will see, after the break." Alexis muted the television during the commercials, and stretched her back out. The pain disappeared for a few seconds, but returned as soon as she sat back down on the couch. The program returned to the bunch of girls scaling down a steep mountain, but only Nicole and Riley were in sight.
"Is that the race? I see Little-'Ley! She's in the front!" Alexis looked at her mom, and cracked up. Everyone knew that being in the front didn't mean anything. The main group of girls could catch her in a few seconds, and she would be swallowed up by the ocean of 16 year old monsters. They showed a close up of Riley's face, and Alexis knew that it wouldn't be long until her prophecy came true.
Riley's breath was heavy, and as she looked down she saw that her wheel was getting farther away from the rider in front of her, and as she looked behind her she saw a wall of riders, ready to swallow her up. She looked up desperately to see that the 3 girls she had attacked with were only getting farther away, and the peloton—the main group of riders—was catching her as fast as a train would catch a turtle.
"Ok Riley, It's fine, just stick with the pack and finish it off," she heard Seth say in the earpiece. "Mara got caught by the broom-truck, and so did Jessica. It's only you and Nicole left in the pack, and it looks like Nicole is fading a bit. Give her half of your power-bar and a pat on the back."
Riley was shocked to hear that Mara got cut by the broom-truck. The broom truck was a dirty old car that followed the race, but any rider that was passed by the broom truck was disqualified from the race, and had to remove their number, and return to their home base on their own. Mara could beat Nicole in a heartbeat. What was going on?
Another 50 kilometers passed until things got really aggressive. The girls pushed and elbowed at Riley, and yelled apparently obnoxious things in Italian and German and Dutch. Riley was used to being the aggressive one, not the one that got picked on. A motorcar passed by the peloton and held up a white-board that had the number 2 written on it. That meant there were 2 kilometers left. That second, two girls shot out from behind, and the pack, trying to close them down, doubled its pace. Riley shot out of her seat and followed, but her legs were exhausted. The girls that were cursing her just a few seconds ago were dropping like flies, and Riley was barely hanging on to the back of the pack.
"Come on Riley, finish with them, finish with them. Get closer to the front." Riley came from around and tried to push herself into a place closer to the front, but the girls wouldn't budge—even from an elbow in the ribs. Riley dropped back and proceeded to sit on the back wheel, but at the 500 yard mark the girls all got up for a sprint finish, and she bonked. She just stopped pedaling, letting 4 or 5 riders beat her to the line, and rolled her bike to the team car.
Mara and Jessica were sitting in the car, along with Seth and David—Seth's assistant. Nicole finished a few minutes later, and rolled over to the car as well.
"Ok girls, what do you think you learned from today's race?" Seth smiled, and looked around at the girls. They all seemed out of it and ready to sleep.
"Uh…We have a lot of work to do," Jessica said after a long, awkward silence.
"Yeah, you do. Now everyone put on your sweats, eat your protein and start stretching. You only have 20 hours until tomorrow's race." Riley stuck her hand into her bag and pulled out a bar and her sweatpants, and took off her front and back wheels from the bike, and started putting her bike into the car.
"Oh, no no no no no….You're riding home. I have to show you something."
No one's legs were up for riding the 10 miles back to the apartment they were renting out, but there was no saying no.
"You girls all have 5 minutes, get your cleats on, fill up your bottles and hop on the bike."
****
Alexis made her way up the hill for the third time, her stomach flipping and the taste of bile in her throat. She felt the hot sun beat down on her shoulders, and the slight pain in her knee.
Ok Lex, She told herself, Just to the top of the hill and then you can walk your way to the gym.
She put out a bit more effort until she got to the top of the hill, her legs giving out from under her, and she sprawled on the ground. She shut her eyes for a few moments, let the big wave of dizziness pass, and then she got up and headed back to the gym complex, where Payson was waiting for her so they could perfect her triple axel on the floor before the big meet the next day.
As she opened the back door to the gym, and pulled open her locker to take a huge sip of Gatorade, she inhaled the artificially cool air and let the fans wick away the sweat on her arms and forehead. Her stomach was still uneasy from the hard work on the run, nevertheless, she quickly changed clothing and opened the door to the main gym to find Payson and Marty working with Sabine Newton, the other elite gymnast at the gym. Although she was far from Alexis' level, Sabine had made huge progress on her floor event and was going into the Pacific Rim with a high qualifying score.
"OK Sabine, your knees need to be straight here. These are the little things that separate you from the champions. You can do everything they can, but you just need to stop being so sloppy." Marty said. Payson approached Alexis and put a hand on her back.
"I know we need to start working on your floor events, but did you speak to Riley? How is she doing?" Alexis knew that Payson had a soft spot for Riley, and knew that if Riley was a gymnast, she would be the favorite in the gym, but Alexis didn't mind it.
"Oh, yeah, she didn't do very well in the race, but Seth had a good talk with them, and made the girls realize that it wasn't fun and games anymore. One of the girls even flew back home last night, because she realized that this isn't what she wants to be spending her time on." Alexis recited what Seth told her over the phone, since when she called Riley was "visualizing" and couldn't speak with anyone.
"Wow, really? Who went home? I watched the race on TV, but I wasn't really sure how the girls did. I just don't understand cycling. Ok, how was your run? I hope you didn't kill yourself, because you don't want to waste too much energy before tomorrow's competition."
Alexis' heart was still beating at a crazy rate, her breakfast had made itself half way up her esophagus, and sweat was pouring off her neck.
"No, not too hard. You know,-" Alexis gagged over the egg whites that were now in her throat, and covered her mouth quickly. "The usual,"
"Lex, this isn't ok. You aren't a cyclist or a marathon runner, you're a gymnast. You don't need to have an aerobic capacity of a horse. You don't need to run yourself until you puke, especially on a day before a meet. Riley? She can do that every day for all I care, but you need to make sure you keep your muscles intact, your electrolytes in check, and your mind in place. No more of this baloney or I'll start following you on your runs with my wheelchair." Alexis lifted her head from the shame just in time for Sabine to walk out of the gym, and Marty to crack a joke.
"Is this a threat coming from Payson? I would watch out." Alexis rolled her eyes and swallowed hard.
"Go take 5 before you puke on my mats and come back with enough energy to do 4 floor routines."
Alexis went back to the locker rooms and took a big gulp of water from the fountain, and then relaxed a bit on one of the benches. She knew that Payson was right, but she needed that hour every few days to let herself work hard without having to worry about pointed toes or good form.
"And here are the results after the first round: Alexis Dawes is in first place with 16.525 points, and right behind her is Aliya Semenov with 16.25."
Riley was curled up on the couch in front of the television set, with Mara on her hip and Nicole on the floor, chewing on plain pasta.
As the competition progressed, and Riley saw all of Alexis' competitors, she knew that Alexis had it in the bag, since her worst event was the floor, and she was in the lead after the floor event anyways. Her next event was the bars, and the television crew was filming her wrap her hands appropriately.
"Next up, Alexis Dawes on the Bars. This is Dawes' third event, and all she needs to win the competition at this point is two clean routines—now on the bar and next on the vault."
Alexis walked up on the stage and extended her arms by her ears. The crowd roared, and then she let her arms down, gave a little nod like she always did, and jumped up onto the low bar. She pulled her body forward and up, and stood on the low bar, and made a jump to the high bar. Then, she started rolling around the bar, her arms perfectly straight, and her legs tight together. Perfect lines, Riley thought to herself.
"Wow, perfect lines," Riley gave a grin, "This event is Alexis' best event, and you can sure see it by the way she moves. So smooth."
After 5 rounds around the high bar, when Alexis' legs were perfectly aligned with the light fixture, she let go, did a half flip in the air and caught the bar facing the low bar, and immediately after that let go again, head-first to the low bar, and caught. Then, with one swift movement, she shot herself back up again, rounded up for the big finish, and let go, made three flips in the air with her legs pressed against her face, and landed perfectly.
"Perfect Routine by Dawes. Unless there is a disaster, she has this one in the bag."
"Yeah, Well Riley, sorry to burst your bubble but this sucks. I'm going to bed." Nicole put her bowl in the sink and headed to the bedroom they shared.
"Well isn't she just a ray of sunshine," Riley giggled. Mara didn't join her. She was frustrated from the race, and didn't want to talk about anything with anyone. She just stared at the TV blankly with glazed eyes.
The girls watched the competition for another thirty minutes until Seth interrupted.
"Franklin, I want to speak with you, come to the hallway." Riley watched Mara sluggishly get off the couch and head out to the hallway, and then moved her eyes back to the television set, where the girls were lining up for the last events—the vault. Riley was at the back of the line, stretching out her back. Alexis had a mean vault, but it had a lot of impact on her back, so she had to downgrade—even with the downgrade her score was considerably high.
Riley watched the girls run down the mats, one by one, and do spectacular flips through the air, and listened to the commentators talk about leotards, flips and Nastia Liukin's new line of jeans.
"Alexis Dawes, the current leader of the completion up next on the vault. She has almost a point's lead, so she just needs to keep this one clean."
Alexis walked up to the mat, got on her tip-toes and saluted to the judges. She started running, but one of the judges raised a white flag, so she turned around and went back to the start. False start.
"Yeah, but Mara, you didn't even keep up for more than 10 kilometers! You can ride faster than that! That's why I had you ride home behind the car. You rode at 35 miles per hour the whole way home—that's a lot faster than today's race." Seth was starting to yell in the hallways.
"False start for Alexis Dawes, but no worries, this girl has a mind of steel." Alexis stretched one more time and waited for the red flag to be waved, signaling she could start her vault.
"My mind wasn't in place, I'm sorry Seth, it's my first race. You can't expect me to be all perfect like your sister, I'm no prodigy and I'm not as strong as her!" Riley winced at the sound of those words. The judge raised the red flag, and Alexis went dashing down the mats like a cheetah chasing its lunch.
"Well you need to put your head back on my dear, because these races are meant for you. Next month, when we head off to Belgium, the races are all flat and technical, and if you can't do the races here than I just might have to send you home. It's not the riding I don't like, it's your attitude that I hate."
Alexis slammed her feet onto the springboard, flipped through the air and then banged the palms of her hands onto the vault.
"Well maybe I'm just not built for this than. We all know you're doing this all for Riley, and we're just your excuse so you can get away with it,"
Alexis shot through the air like a cannon, and flipped twice through the air. But when Riley thought that Alexis was supposed to unfold herself so she can land, Alexis attempted to flip again.
"No Mara, you're wrong. You're angry and frustrated and you're taking your anger out on retarded things."
Tears streamed down Riley's face, and her vision blurred, but she could still see Alexis land flat on her back, and the commentators squeal.
"That is not good," said one of them.